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With more than 23,000 square feet of public space, Kohl Children's Museum gives its young visitors plenty of rooms in which to play. The kid-focused facility houses 16 permanent exhibits for infants and children up to 8 years of age, each filled with hands-on activities designed to encourage learning and exploration.
City on the Move helps children learn about Chicago by challenging them to build city scenes from geometric shapes or crank an electricity-generating wheel to power a pretend John Hancock Center. Kids can follow animal footprints to their source in Nature Explorers, move musical notes to create melodies in Ravinia Festival Music Makers, or explore the rotating temporary exhibits.

It was the late 1970s, decades after the Holocaust, but neo-Nazis hadn?t disappeared: they threatened to march in Skokie. Realizing the need to combat this kind of intolerance with education, Chicago-area survivors and their supporters banded together to create the Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois. This initiative evolved into the museum which was built to honor the memory of Holocaust victims, educate visitors, and explore the human intolerance that continues to lead to genocide today.

It started in 1977, with a donation by philanthropists John Mayo and Betty Seabury Mitchell of approximately 3,000 artifacts to found the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian. Since its inception, the museum has sought to broaden the public's understanding of the continent's cultural diversity of American Indian and First Nation peoples. To that end, it showcases the historical and artistic achievements of the Native American and First Nations peoples of the present-day United States and Canada.
Donations over the decades have helped swell the meticulously preserved permanent collection to more than 10,000 objects. Consisting of pieces from tribes throughout the Woodlands, Plains, Southwest, Pacific Northwest, and Arctic regions of North America, the collection has a broad-based appeal for researchers, knowledge-hungry visitors, and the culturally curious. Baskets, pottery, clothing, paintings, beadwork, carvings, and archaeological and ethnographic artifacts dating from Paleo-Indian times to the present fill the display cases. Additionally, the museum features special areas where guests can touch and handle Native-made tools and raw materials?including snakeskins, birch bark, and turquoise?that the Native American and First Nations peoples historically would have used in everyday life. Temporary exhibits explore specific themes, such as the cultural identity of mixed race Native peoples and the traditions of storytelling in Native culture.

The Evanston History Center
covers the history of the city of Evanston?but with roots going back nearly 120 years, the Center almost deserves a historical society of its own. It's headquartered in the National Landmark home of Charles Gates Dawes, the Vice President under Calvin Coolidge. In addition to the physical building and the collection of art and artifacts, the Center also leads walking architecture tours, music performances, and ice cream socials.
Size: six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, 11 fireplaces, two parlors, a library, a dining room, a billiard room, and a ballroom, though it doesn't have a virtual golf center
Eye Catcher: the house itself: a 3.5-story chateau that visitors can explore on docent-led tours every Thursday through Sunday
Permanent Mainstay: Milestones and Memories, a second-floor exhibit featuring such artifacts as a surgeon's case, and paintings from several centuries throughout the house
Don't Miss: live events, such as a lecture series on the role of WWI in the history of the city, holiday parties and ice cream socials, and walking tours exploring architecture, the lakefront, and women's history

A kids' firehouse sets the stage for hands-on, imaginative activities at FireZone, where actual firefighters show off fire engines, explain educational displays, and oversee games for kids of all ages. In addition to children?s parties and drop-in play sessions, FireZone runs school field trips, caters to adults with corporate training days, and rents fire trucks for picnics, parades, and festivals.

Located 14 miles from downtown Chicago, Elmhurst Art Museum displays national shows and the works of deserving regional, national, and international artists. In addition to hosting on going activities in the museum's education center, the museum seeks to spark creativity and foster sensitivity for fine art in the community through stimulating displays, programs, and mind control.
Attached to the museum is the historic McCormick House, which is one of only three homes in the United States designed and built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and then replicated in LEGOs. The museum layout is designed around the house, which stands as a tribute to Mies and has won the Chicago AIA Regional Architecture Award.

Groupon Guide

This summer, you could embark on a road trip with the same tired goals, such as “see the majestic Grand Canyon” or “get across state lines.” Or, you could give your summer itinerary some panache by visiting these five fashion museums, which exhibit everything from vintage Balenciaga to John McClane’s blood-stained undershirt. Our journey begins—where else?—in New York City.
1. Anna Wintour Costume Center at the Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York City
For decades the Met’s Costume Institute Gala has been a stage for fashion-forward celebs to debut bold new looks (witness this mohawk headpiece Sarah Jessica Parker wore for 2013’s PUNK: Chaos to Couture event). But on May 8 the museum began a new chapter, unveiling renovated galleries and a new name that honors Vogue’s iconoclastic editor-in-chief, who’s served as a frequent board co-chair.
This makes now a great time to visit, especially since the collection—which includes upwards of 35,000 pieces from five continents and seven centuries—can’t be displayed year-round due to the fragility of the textiles. Another reason to go now: special exhibit Charles James: Beyond Fashion, featuring 65 of the 20th-century couturier’s most extraordinary gowns, only runs through August 10.
2. Kent State University Museum | Kent, Ohio
Though tucked away in a corner of Northeast Ohio, KSU’s museum owes its existence to Hollywood. In 1981, costume designer Shannon Rodgers, a veteran of Cecil B. DeMille’s 1934 Cleopatra, donated more than 4,000 period costumes and accessories in order to create an archival extension of KSU’s esteemed Fashion Design and Merchandising School.
But the museum’s eight galleries examine far more than costume design. Two exhibits this summer include The Great War: Women and Fashion in a World at War (opening July 24), a retrospective of World War I–era style, and Shifting Paradigms: Fashion + Technology (through August 31), which explores futuristic design techniques such as 3D printing.
3. Textile and Fashion Arts Collection at the Indianapolis Museum of Art | Indianapolis
Not only will this museum make you fawn over a dream wardrobe you’ll never get to wear (including vintage pieces from Dior, Balenciaga, Gaultier, and Chanel), but it’ll also get you drooling over furniture you’ll never get to sit on. That’s because the collection is a broad overview of all kinds of textiles. Numbering among its more than 7,000 pieces are Japanese upholstered chairs, African embroideries, and the world’s largest collection of Baluchi rugs and weavings (76!).
4. Leila’s Hair Museum | Independence, Missouri
Feeling a little off from all the Funyuns you’ve eaten on this trip? Embrace that weirdness with a stop at Leila’s Hair Museum, where you can view a former hairdresser’s collection of art made of—yup—hair. This destination lacks the majesty of the other locales (it’s a fluorescent-lit former office building), but that’s not to say it doesn’t have a touch of glamour: a collection of celebrity hair includes strands snipped from Michael Jackson and Marilyn Monroe. Most of the museum’s other pieces are more than 100 years old, focusing on the popular Victorian tradition of weaving hair into jewelry, wreaths, and even paintings.
5. Hollywood Costume Exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum | Phoenix
It’s the end of the line. You’re exhausted. Only one man can help you get your mojo back: Mr. Austin Powers. View his blue velvet suit alongside more than 100 other costumes from films such as Fight Club, Titanic, American Hustle, Star Wars, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at this exhibit, which runs through July 6.
A big part of the fun is the presentation. Instead of heads, the mannequins feature small flat-screens that play footage of each character’s face on a loop. And many mannequins strike familiar poses: Spider-Man climbs down the wall, and Kill Bill’s the Bride dives through the air with her Hattori Hanzō sword (oh yeah, there are props, too). You can also watch movie clips and listen to interviews with actors, costume designers, and directors.
Visit Groupon to find other Chicago museums to check out.
Illustration: Jennifer Jackson, Groupon

A rare 19th-century edition of the Bible resides at the Museum of Science and Industry, but you’ll need a magnifying glass to get a good look at it. The microscopic holy book, which measures just three quarters of an inch tall, is one of more than 1,500 miniature artifacts tucked inside Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle.
Moore, a silent-film star of the 1930s, was known for her extravagant lifestyle and her passion for dolls. Traces of both are evident in the scaled-down castle she commissioned, which measures 9 square feet, stands 12 feet high at its tallest point, and purportedly cost the actress $500,000. Moore took her treasured dollhouse on a national tour to raise money for children’s charities before donating it to the museum in 1949.
Conserving a Miniature Icon
Today, more than 70 years after the Fairy Castle moved into the museum, it is at the center of a major conservation effort. The historic event, which kicked off on November 12, is open to the public through February 2014. Curator Margaret Schlesinger calls it a “once in a lifetime opportunity,” and the thrill in her voice makes it clear that she isn’t exaggerating.
During the conservation process, the rooms and their furnishings emerge from glass cases that normally force guests to observe at a distance of 6 feet. Conservators work on the rooms at tables located on the museum floor, where anyone can walk right up to them and ask questions.
“The reaction from our guests has just been … amazement,” Schlesinger exclaims. “They are seeing these rooms as they have never seen them before.”
A team of four conservators from Litas Liparini Restoration Studio in Evanston will clean every surface in each of the 12 rooms, which include Ali Baba’s cave and an attic that has almost certainly collected dust over the years. They will replace the aged electrical system and revamp the plumbing with modern fiber-optic techniques that control water in the garden and both bathrooms.
It’s fascinating to hear Schlesinger talk about the house as if it were no different from its life-size counterparts. “Similar to any old house, the pipes within the walls leak sometimes,” she explains matter-of-factly. The water is corrosive to the bronze and alabaster in the bathrooms, she adds.
Once-Hidden Artifacts Take the Spotlight
Currently, the museum is displaying all 1,500 of the castle’s miniature artifacts in glass cases viewable from every side. From the normal distance of 6 feet, guests may not notice objects such as a tiny pair of scissors, but “now they can see it literally inches in front of their face,” Schlesinger says.
In fact, the Castle’s entire rare-book collection is on display during the preservation work. According to Schlesinger, these books were one of Moore’s most treasured possessions. The actress even carried in her purse a stash of small leather-bound books, which she would ask her fellow celebrities to sign with a note. In one such book, Julia Child wrote down a recipe before signing her name.
As one might gather from her wealth of knowledge, Schlesinger has spent countless hours with the Fairy Castle and its many artifacts. Though some miniatures—namely the Bible and a painting by Walt Disney—are popular sightings for guests, Schlesinger shares her own list of five artifacts you won’t want to miss:
1. The Silver-Plated Iron Maiden: The iron maiden—a torture device consisting of an upright coffin with spikes lining the interior—stands 1 inch tall. Look for it on one of the library’s bookshelves.
2. The “Polar Bear” Rug: A taxidermist actually crafted this “polar bear” rug from an ermine pelt and mouse teeth. Look for it on the floor of the prince’s bedroom.
3. The Ivory Musket: In keeping with her love of mystical lands, Moore had an artist produce an inch-long musket that can actually shoot silver bullets. Look for it in the Great Hall.
4. The Bust of Pope Pius IX: Beneath the head of this ivory bust—and invisible to the naked eye—is an official Vatican seal. The bust and its stand were gifted to Moore during her world travels. Look for it in the chapel.
5. The Pewter Mugs: In the 1940s, an employee at the Museum of Science and Industry handmade these tiny mugs as a gift to Moore. Their handles contain wood salvaged from Westminster Abbey after it sustained damage in World War II. Look for them in the kitchen.
The restoration gallery will be open daily through mid-February (it’s closed January 4–14). For more information about the Fairy Castle and to plan your visit, click here.
Photo: J.B. Spector, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

Contestants in Argonne National Laboratory’s Rube Goldberg Machine Contest might take at least 20 steps to zip a zipper, but they use bike wheels, mousetraps, and a bit of smoke to do it.
In the sunny atrium of the Chicago Children’s Museum, the crowd leaned in to get a close-up view of the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, and the Great Wall of China. Each miniature landmark, assembled by students at Hoffman Estates High School, was part of an elaborate mechanical network designed with a single purpose: to zip a zipper. As the judges looked on, a student set the contraption’s chain reaction in motion. Music blaired, and a bike wheel began to turn (a nod to the Tour de France), setting off a running of the (paper) bulls, which in turn triggered the tilt of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But coming up on the grand finale—the zipping of the zipper—the scent of smoke filled the air. A student quickly reached in to correct the problem, a malfunctioning drill motor, resulting in a deduction of points.
Although his team had been working on this entry to Argonne National Laboratory’s Rube Goldberg Machine Contest since August, student Emilio Guzman remained upbeat. “We’ve had better runs,” he said. “If anything, it’s one little mistake here and there. We just had some bad luck.”
Emilio’s team was one of 11 that qualified for this year’s contest, which is held to promote careers in science and engineering to future generations. The judges eyed each machine in action and scored them based on theme, creativity, humor, use of everyday objects, and number of steps to complete this year’s assigned task (20 is the minimum).
While teams from Maine South and Chicago Christian High Schools showed off their engineering prowess by using everything from clocks to pounding bass speakers to power their machines, creativity really shone through in the team themes. One team built a multilevel, 360-degree machine based around Tom and Jerry, while another constructed an enormous 26-step machine that ticked through the alphabet, starting with an airplane, balloon, and catapult and ending with a yo-yo and zipper.
Reavis High School student Kevin Ho admitted he was intimidated by the other schools’ towering machines. “They were so big,” he said, “but they’re more prone to mistakes.” The Reavis entry, barely 3 feet tall at its highest, embodied a Super Mario Bros. theme, complete with green pipes, snapping Piranha Plants, and a small Yoshi. While other machines veered dangerously close to the two-minute time limit to complete their task, this one went from start to zipper in just over 15 seconds. Ho claimed that the swift simplicity of the Reavis machine made it “much more efficient and accurate.” He was right—his team won first prize and the chance to go to the national competition in April.
First-place winners also get to tour Argonne’s facilities and eat lunch with its scientists. This is a key part of the contest, said Meridith Bruozas, Argonne’s manager of education programs and outreach. “[Our] mission is to develop the next generation of scientists and engineers. We see [the] Rube Goldberg [contest] as a great opportunity to really get kids thinking about principals that we can expand upon later.” Meridith noted that Rube Goldberg contestants often go on to pursue internships at Argonne and careers at labs across the country—one of her coworkers is a former contestant.
Elaine Bentley, manager of public programs at the Chicago Children’s Museum, knows that the museum’s 18-year partnership with Argonne doesn’t just benefit high schoolers. It also gives the museum’s regular visitors, who range from age 0 to 9, the chance to see older kids get excited about science. “There is one thing [students] have to do: zip a zipper, [but] they can do it a million different ways,” she said. “And so it fits right in with what we do [at the museum]—kids [here] can always make something that’s their very own.”
Photos: Mark Lopez, Argonne National Laboratory